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What's important to know about real estate investments?
Real estate can be purchased in a form you can see, touch, and pay maintenance costs on, or it can be purchased indirectly through the use of REITs and other securities tied to the real estate industry. Real estate investments fall into a wide spectrum of subsets. You can invest in residential property, commercial property, development projects, raw land, etc. Within the residential sphere are multi-family residential complexes, rental houses, foreclosure flips, and vacation rentals with property management. Continue reading...
What is the Triple Bottom (Bullish) Pattern?
The Triple Bottom pattern appears when there are three distinct low points (1, 3, 5) that represent a consistent support level. The security tests the support level over time but eventually breaks resistance and makes a strong move to the upside. This type of formation happens when sellers can not break the support price, and market participants eventually pour in. Once the price breaks out from the top pattern boundary, day traders and swing traders should trade with an UP trend. Consider buying a security or a call option at the breakout price level. To identify an exit, compute the target price by adding the pattern’s height (highest price minus the bottom price support level) to the breakout level the highest high. When trading, wait for the confirmation move, which is when the price rises above the breakout level. Continue reading...
What is the Triple Tops (Bearish) Pattern?
The Triple Tops pattern appears when there are three distinct minor Highs (1, 3, 5) at about the same price level. The security is testing the upper resistance level (horizontal line formed by (1, 3, 5), but the price ultimately declines as buyers give up. This type of formation potentially happens when investors can not break the resistance price. There is a distinct possibility that market participants will sell out, and the price can move down with big volumes (leading up to the breakout). Continue reading...
What is a Dividends Received Deduction?
A Dividends Received Deduction (DRD) is a tax deduction available to corporations when they are paid dividends from another corporation. This is a provision to reduce the number of times an amount of earnings can be taxed: company A, which is paying the dividend, will have already been taxed on it, and the shareholders of company B will be taxed as well, so the Dividends Received Deduction alleviates taxes at the intermediary stage when Company B receives it. Continue reading...
What is Net Income?
Net income is the amount of earnings left over once expenses have been deducted from sales. In short, it is the net amount of profit or loss. It is calculated by taking total earnings in a period (such as a quarter), and deducting all elements of the cost of doing business (labor, depreciation, fixed expenses, overhead, etc…) Net income is ultimately a measure of a company’s profitability, and its calculation should be scrutinized closely to ensure all expenses are being accounted for accurately. Continue reading...
What is Net Worth?
Net worth is the total value of a person or entity’s assets, minus all of their outstanding liabilities. Net worth is most often used in personal finance, with the simple calculation of Net Worth = Assets - Liabilities. In the business context, net worth is also known as book value or shareholder’s equity, and those with rising book value mean they are generating more revenue and obtaining property more quickly than they’re accumulating debt. A rising market value does not necessarily correlate to a rising net worth, as the market may bid up a company’s market capitalization absent profit growth. Continue reading...
Top Stock Chart Patterns
Chart patterns are shapes that sometimes appear in the charts of securities prices. Some of them may prove useful to you. Some frequently discussed chart patterns include Head and Shoulders, Double/Triple Bottom/Top, Cups and Saucers, Flags and Pennants, and others. Generally, it can be useful to compare and connect the troughs to each other and the peaks to each other to see if there is a trend confirmation if the breadth is narrowing, or if a reversal might be imminent. Continue reading...
What does net long mean?
Investors are net long when they own more long positions than short positions in a security, derivative, or fund. It could mean that a fund manager, for instance, is net long on all of the holdings in the funds, i.e., the fund holds more long positions than short positions. Some funds could be the opposite and be net short. A long position - or to be “long a stock” - means that an investor has share ownership and will receive economic benefit if the share price rises, and vice versa. Creating and maintaining a long position is simple: an investor buys and owns the investment. Some asset managers will employ a “long-only” strategy, only buying and selling securities in the portfolio as a management strategy - they will not use options or shorting strategies as a result. Continue reading...
What is Return on Net Assets?
Return on Net Assets is a calculation used to determine how well a company performs, relative to its resources. Return on Net Assets gives investors an idea of how well a company uses its resources to generate profits. Net assets includes not only fixed, tangible assets, but also the net working capital of a business. Working capital is defined as Current Assets minus the Current Liabilities of the business. The net profits for a period are divided by the net assets to arrive at the Return on Net Assets. Continue reading...
What is Tangible Net Worth?
Tangible Net Worth is another word for Book Value or Net Asset Value. Only the tangible assets and cash are included, and any liabilities are subtracted. Any depreciation that would otherwise be included for accounting purposes is added back in. Tangible net worth, or book value, is the remaining balance after intangible assets and all liabilities are deducted from net assets. This is the amount that will be divided among shareholders in the event of a company liquidation, and the minimum that the company would be purchased for by an acquiring company. Shareholders can use this as a bare-minimum estimation of the value of their shares. Continue reading...
How Do I Calculate my Net Worth?
Calculating your net worth is a simple and worthwhile endeavor, and should be done once a year to measure your progress. Generally speaking, your net worth is the sum of all of your assets, minus the sum of your liabilities. For example, to calculate your net worth, you would need to add up the dollar values of all of your assets – usually consisting of your house, your cars, savings accounts, retirement accounts, CDs, cash, etc…, and your most valuable possessions (you don’t need to include your desk lamp into the calculations). Continue reading...
What is the 'Non-Current Assets to Net Worth' Ratio?
The non-current assets to net worth ratio will give the analyst an idea of how much of a company’s value is tied-up in non-current assets. As a quick refresher, ‘non-current assets’ are those that most likely will not convert to cash within a year’s time, also known as a long-term asset. Where a company’s non-current asset to net worth ratio lies depends on the industry, but generally speaking a company wants to avoid having that ratio rise above 1 to 1.5. That means the company is highly illiquid, and could be vulnerable in the event of an economic shock. Continue reading...
What is the Accounting Cycle?
The Accounting Cycle includes all of the documentation that is collected and all of the controls and systems in place to ensure accurate accounting. The Accounting Cycle begins with the point of sale, with documentation for the transaction (invoice or receipt) and the internal expenses and inventory. There are conventions, controls and systems in place to account for and control the flow of information in a company at each stage of the process to ensure that accounts are as accurate as possible. The Accounting Cycle may refer to the length of time between trial balances, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually. Continue reading...
What is Account Reconcilement?
Account reconcilement is the act of comparing and affirming multiple records of the same financial information. To “reconcile the books” is to compare different records of the same accounts to ensure that they match up. One might reconcile all the different record-keeping for the same account, such as copies of checks and receipts, to be sure that they add up to the balance and ledger shown on a bank account statement. It could be that the recipient of a check has not yet cashed it, and it is important to keep all records “synced” with one another. Continue reading...
What is Net Operating Income?
Net Operating Income (NOI) is a measure of profitability most often used with income producing real estate businesses. In the real estate world, net operating income is calculated by taking all revenues generated by a property (rent, parking, etc…) from all of the operating expenses needed to upkeep the property, which can include insurances, taxes, maintenance, utilities, and so on. Net Operating Income is a before tax figure, so does not include principal and interest payments on loans, depreciation and amortization. If the NOI figure is negative, it is referred to as a net operating loss (NOL). Continue reading...
What is Net Present Value?
Net Present Value (NPV) is the difference between present value of net inflows versus the present value of outflows (expenses). The net present value is a good analyst tool for measuring the profitability of a company’s project or new undertaking, like expansion into a new market. It measures the anticipated cash inflows (revenues) from the undertaking versus the anticipated costs of the new project (also in present value terms). Continue reading...
What is Net Operating Profit After Tax?
Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) is a way to measure profits that excludes the impact of debt financing (via tax benefits and costs). The easiest way to think about Net Operating Profit After Tax is as a company’s profit if it were unleveraged, i.e., if it had no debt. There are costs associated with debt but also tax benefits, so there’s some give and take. The reason an analyst might use NOPAT is to gain a more accurate look at the operating efficiency of a leveraged companies, since it excludes the tax savings many companies get because of existing debt. Continue reading...
What is the 'Fixed Assets to Net Worth' Ratio?
The fixed assets to net worth ratio is a calculation intended to measure the solvency of a company. It generally tells the analyst what percentage of a company’s assets are cash vs. fixed assets. To calculate the ratio, you divide net fixed assets into net worth. A fixed assets to net worth ratio greater than 0.75, generally, means that a company has too much of their net worth tied up in assets like equipment, machinery, land, and so on. Continue reading...
What is market breadth?
Market Breadth is a descriptor that is used in several market indicators such as the daily breadth, the A/D Line, the McClellan Oscillator, and Arms Index. Breadth is the relative difference in the amount of advancing stocks and declining stocks. Daily breadth is simply computed by subtracting one from the other, or creating a ratio in which one is divided by the other. Daily breadth is closely related, even interchangeable, with the Advance/Decline ratio. It can also refer to the difference between New Highs and New Lows, or Net New Highs. Continue reading...
What is the Advance/Decline Divergence Oscillator?
The advance/decline divergence oscillator (also called the McClellan Oscillator after its creators) tracks the rate of change in the advance-decline line (net advances). The AD line is formed from the Net Advances/Declines calculated daily at market close; this represents the proportion of stocks which advanced (increased) in price that day versus those which declined – the size of the difference is called the daily breadth. The advance/decline divergence oscillator can be applied to any group of stocks or exchange. Continue reading...